Page:The Message and Ministrations of Dewan Bahadur R. Venkata Ratnam, volume 1.djvu/99

 II RELIGION AND RECREATION. (1895.) Abstract philosophy and inspiring religion differ as culture and conduct; the formor touches only the upper zones of thought, while the latter weaves itself into every concern of life. Acute reasoning, whether it grapple with the subtlest problems of life, or thread its way through the intricacies of puzzling casuistry, or hold the balance between the rival claims of conflicting duties, is an intellectual exercise which may nerve the sinews of thought or clear the perception of the mind. But faith—the meeting of the ascending soul of man with the descending spirit of God—is an additional faculty, a new spirit that makes its holy influence felt upon every activity of life, a fresh leaven that works as a refining and ennobling agency in the whole human existence. Thus viewed, philosophy is, at best, but an ideal plan rarely